Police officer critical after highway crash

Staff and WTNH News 8 reports

Updated 10:55 am, Wednesday, January 4, 2012

EAST HARTFORD -- A town police officer is in critical condition after an apparent rear-end crash on Route 2.

East Hartford police identified the officer as Todd Lentocha, 41, who was on duty at the time.

Route 2 Eastbound between exits 5B and 5C was closed for several hours due to the crash. The 12:25 a.m. accident involved the police cruiser, which suffered rear-end damage, and a pick up truck which suffered front-end damage.

Lentocha, a five-year veteran of the department, is at Hartford Hospital in critical condition, a hospital spokesperson said.

"Officer Lentocha suffered serious head injury and was transported to Hartford Hospital where he underwent surgery," Lt. Curt Stoldt said in a news release.

According to the state police accident report, the driver of the truck, Robert Lucky, 49, of Dixwell Avenue in New Haven, wasn't injured. Lucky was driving a 1996 Dodge 1500 pickup truck. According to the report, Lucky was driving in the eastbound lane of two near the exit 5C ramp. His truck entered the right shoulder, where Lentocha was parked in his cruiser, and struck the back of the cruiser, sending it across the roadway into the left lane.

Lentocha took part in "Cops on Top," a team of volunteers from the law enforcement and public service community who undertake mountain climbing expeditions to honor the memories of fallen officers, according to the organization's website.

In 2011, he climbed the 2,545-feet high Mt. Frissell, on the border of southwest Massachusetts and northwest Connecticut, along with 12 other officers as part of "Summit for Heroes." The event, coinciding with similar climbs in other state, honored law enforcement officers who died on September 11.